The Restricted Area Detection Team from the Faculty of Information Technology, Kantara Branch, Sinai University, Won Financial Fund in the Innovation Catalyst 2024 Competition to Implement the Minesweeper Project

The Restricted Area Detection Team from the Faculty of Information Technology, Kantara Branch, Sinai University, Won Financial Fund in the Innovation Catalyst 2024 Competition to Implement the Minesweeper Project

Under the patronage of Dr. Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Innovators Support Fund launched the Innovation Catalyst 2024 competition in November 2023. The competition targets innovative students at Egyptian universities in various scientific disciplines who have creative ideas that offer solutions to Egypt’s development challenges. The restricted area detection project won financial support worth EGP 41,100 for its implementation.

Project Team students are: Menna Tallah Ghanem Abed El Aziz, Fatma Khaled salah, Habiba Mahmoud Helmy, Mohamed Adel Gebaly, under the supervision of Dr. Maysa Khalil Noby.

It is a practical project with the primary goal of safely detecting landmines, thereby reducing the risks faced by humans during traditional demining operations. Therefore, this project is significant as a modern technological solution that contributes to speeding up mine removal operations at a lower cost and with minimal human effort.

The project also has broader applications in other fields, such as metal surveying, disaster area rescue, and exploring challenging environments that are difficult for humans to access. Using similar technologies for mineral exploration or agricultural land assessment makes it a multi-purpose project.

For the implementation of the project, a Metal Detector was used as the primary sensor to detect any metallic objects underground. It was connected to an Arduino board to process the received signals, with the system triggering an alarm when metal was detected. To control the device’s movement, Motor Drivers were used to move the wheels or legs of the device based on the readings from the detector. The Arduino was programmed to handle detection signals and to automatically control the device’s direction and movement.

Additionally, the device was equipped with a GPS module to enable it to send the precise coordinates of the detected mine, making it easier for specialized teams to accurately locate and remove landmines, thereby improving the efficiency of demining operations.

The device is characterized by a simple design, offering lightweight construction and easy mobility across different terrains. Through practical testing, the detector’s sensitivity was calibrated, and the robot was programmed to stop or change its path upon detecting metal, which significantly increases the accuracy and effectiveness of the search.